Wendell Barnhouse is a nationally-known and respected columnist who has spent over 20 years covering collegiate athletics. He has reported from 25 Final Fours and more than three dozen bowl games and has written about the Big 12 and its schools since the conference's beginning. Barnhouse will be updating the Big 12 Insider on happenings and behind-the-scenes information about the conference.

Gary Parrish, College Basketball Insider for CBSSports.com, wrote this about Kansas State coach Bruce Weber in his "Weekend Look Ahead" offering:

Illinois fired Bruce Weber on March 9, 2012. And yet on March 9, 2013, he'll coach with a chance to win a Big 12 title, and do people grasp just how crazy and unusual this bounce-back story really is?

From fired to a (possible) Big 12 title in the span of a year?

That's nuts.

Among the biggest challenges in college athletics is trying to get a good basketball job immediately after losing one. It almost never happens. But it happened for Weber, and he's taken advantage of the opportunity by leading Kansas State to a 25-5 record that includes a 14-3 league mark. Consequently, the Wildcats are ranked ninth and tied atop the Big 12 with Kansas heading into Saturday's game at No. 13 Oklahoma State.

Will KSU win at Gallagher-Iba Arena?

Who knows?

But the idea that it's even possible for Weber to win a power-conference championship exactly a year after getting fired from a power-conference job is a remarkable development, regardless of how it turns out. So good for Bruce Weber. And good for Kansas State. They both needed something, and they seem to have found it in each other.